I am use to sailing short boards w/ waist harness and shorter harness lines, but now have a kona one and 8.0 sail with much bigger mast and boom than I am use to. I am about to purchase new lines and wondering what I should get. I have a 2 part question what kind of harness should I use and what type of lines:

Will be sailing kona in 15-25 mph wind and mostly flat water some chop.

Should I go back to my seat harness? If so should I get longer lines what length? Any other issues I may face going back to seat vs waist.

I assume a seat is going to get me more speed? what will keep me on a plane longer in light winds?

Personal preference, there is no chosen harness height or line length of any kind of windsurfing.
I have friends who use long lines and seat harness for Formula.
They sail right next to their buds with super short lines and any kind of harness.
Same with freeride.
Just using bigger boards and sails doesn't automatically mean to use longer lines.
Use what is comfy for you.

Hi! my suggestion is just use the best harness for you and your back, then get adjustable harness lines. I've been using Dakine T5 waist harness and Sailworks adjustable lines, they are simple and easy to adjust. With Mistral Superlight & 7.0sqm and Equipe XR 8.5sqm long board and small wave gear. You can run the lines longer with the big sail in light winds and then shorten them as the wind builds to your preference. Hope this helps! Enjoy your new board! Cheers.

Agree with zirtaeb. Every time I've used adjustable lines, I end up cinching them up as short as I can get them. I just gave up and got short fixed lines... I have to jump into them a bit on takeoff, but they feel the best to me when blasting about._________________/w\

For sailing in non planing winds you are going to want longer lines simply because the sail will be more upright and your stance will be more forward to enable upwind sailing. So I've found adjustable lines to be essential for these times. As the wind increases you simply pull them shorter. It pays to get the better quality adjustable lines that you can adjust on the fly. With these lines you can use the harness that fits you best.

With a short board all bets are off as Leeds said, but on a long board I'm with Rob on line length. Not many people choose to sail a longboard in 100% planing conditions. Most people choose a longboard for on-and-off planing condition where a longboard rules. A waist harness would be easier to get in-and-out of but a seat harness would be easier on the back for long trips.

My comment addresses harness and harness line length on the Kona. With all due respect for those who say that harness line length is grossly personal, that's truly not the case in Kona One.

There is no debate among the top Kona racers for upwind VMG in displacement mode. You must use very long lines -longer than you might have done with an Equipe- to generate enough mast base pressure to engage the entire rail. There is a specific technique to jet upwind on the Kona, and very long lines is one part of it. 24"-38" is the tested Kona One branded line.

One other key part is to line up the pull from the harness lines to route directly to the hinge point of your pelvis. This aligns the body in a very comfortable position and ensures max mast base pressure even when fully hiked. It also allows one to swing down and in when reducing power yet while maximizing mast base pressure. This is why long lines are required. No waist harness will achieve this, and only a few seat harnesses get it exactly right.

In a race upwind, those who get this tuning correct achieve much better VMG than most of the other sailors.

I do realize that fanaticultrahawk discussed 15-25, probably planing all the time, but why choose between a set that works only when planing when there exist sets that work in both?_________________Support Your Sport. Join US Windsurfing!
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